Five
by autumneuphoria
Summary: The five years it took for Zuko to realize he loves Katara is long and tedious.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of the characters.**

* * *

**Fifth Grade**

His head is spinning like a clock wound too fast.

He is vaguely aware of warm blood trickling down his cheek from his right temple.

He hears concerned classmates asking him if he is alright.

He smiles feebly and says he is fine.

He sees Mai's unamused smile as she spits out the words. "You got hit by the basketball hoop and you're saying you're _fine_?"

He nods, but it sends a dull thrum through his body.

"Are you crazy?!" she nearly shrieks.

He rolls his eyes and assures his "special" friend that as a matter of fact, he is fine.

But he knows he is lying.

* * *

It is the class after lunch when his uncle comes in to collect his belongings.

Iroh reassures the class that his nephew is alright and is currently being treated at the hospital-Zuko will be present for classes tomorrow.

She feels worry flow through her. Will he truly be alright?

* * *

Ty Lee dares her to send him a message, checking up on him. And she does.

_How's your head?_ Quite silly for a fifth grader to ask. _Don't ask who I am._ Just plain naive.

Her phone beeps almost immediately._ I'm fine. They didn't stitch anything, just a deep wound._

_Oh, alright. Get well soon. _Her fingers shake as she clicks 'send'.

The conversation ends there for the rest of the school year.

**Sixth Grade**

They pass each other in the hall.

They don't speak-they aren't close.

She greets his mother when she visits school.

His mother seems to like her.

He doesn't say anything about it.

* * *

Mai has a breakdown in the middle of the year.

Apparently, one of his friends let the cat out of the bag about the little kiss they shared last year.

She's surprised, and somehow...heartbroken.

But she sort of sees it coming anyway.

She convinces herself to stop liking him.

And so she does-or so she thinks.

**Freshman Year**

Mai and he have a rocky relationship.

She watches in the sidelines; they barely talk.

Some of the dormant feelings surface, but not enough to make her realize she's never stopped liking him.

He catches glimpses of her from a distance.

She's grown more beautiful, now that she's let her hair flow out of the tight ponytail she used to wear all the time.

* * *

He thinks he might like her, maybe even since back then.

But he loves Mai.

He convinces himself that he only adores Katara.

**Sophomore Year**

He and Mai are no longer together.

She calls it quits after she realizes she's always had a thing for one of his friends.

He cries for the first time in a long time.

He really loved her.

* * *

Fate decided to play tricks on her heart.

They are stuck as seat mates for the first half of the semester and she thinks she's beginning to like him again.

Gentleman, humorous, independent, talented, and capable of defending himself as well as others. Not to mention growing more and more handsome every year.

By the end of the second half of the first semester, she realizes she loves him-always has.

* * *

He starts to notice her more often.

She's witty, a born leader, true-to-herself, and kind. Her beauty doesn't restrict itself on the outside; she is flooding with it even on the inside.

He starts to think that maybe he had been neglecting her for quite a while.

By the end of the year, he's in love with her.

**Junior Year**

He hasn't told her of his feelings yet.

He's afraid of rejection.

They've gotten pretty close, almost _too_ close.

He gets jealous sometimes when she talks to some other boy, but he reminds himself that he was in no position to be-they weren't together.

He also gets possessive. If a guy so much as stood no more than half a foot away from her, he would immediately flock closer just to make sure that the boy wouldn't try anything.

And she notices it all.

**Senior Year**

He tells her everything. All his feelings, the weird emotions that even Mai couldn't make him feel.

They're sixteen, a long way from when they were eleven.

There is a smile on her face when she says she's loved him first.

* * *

11/27/12


End file.
